Nels Cline is the man

dirty · Post by **dirty** » Fri May 12, 2006 9:49 am

Saw Wilco (again) in Portland (ME) a few weeks ago. Afterward, several of the wilco-ites (Wilco-ans? Wilcans? Wilcovites?) were in a local watering hole. My shy friends and I stood watching them, trying to figure out how to approach them to say hi (basically, the presence of Wilco turns us into 13 year old girls. It's not pretty.)

We ended up gushing something about "you guys were great, blah blah blah" and rushing off, but not before I shook Nels Cline's hand. Nice guy, amazing guitar player. Soft hands. Anyway, his website is pretty cool too, and inspiring if you're into his music: www.nelscline.com/tech2.html

Should I have posted this in the Pathetic Celebrity Stalking section?

BeepBeep · Post by **BeepBeep** » Fri May 12, 2006 11:50 am

Okay, what do you like about him (besides his soft hands

).

dirty · Post by **dirty** » Fri May 12, 2006 5:27 pm

Well, I should say that until I saw them perform the Ghost is Born stuff, I thought all those ragin lead guitar lines were Cline. Turns out it was sneaky Jeff!

Actually, I guess what I like is that he seems able to do exactly what a song needs. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Sometimes noise, sometimes lapsteel. Kinda like what I enjoy in a Radiohead show.

I admit I know nothing about Cline's other recordings, and I know there's a lot out there. Anybody have any favorites?

lyman · Post by **lyman** » Fri May 12, 2006 6:23 pm

dirty wrote:Well, I should say that until I saw them perform the Ghost is Born stuff, I thought all those ragin lead guitar lines were Cline. Turns out it was sneaky Jeff!

I admit I know nothing about Cline's other recordings, and I know there's a lot out there. Anybody have any favorites?

yeah, i didn't think jeff tweedy was one for raucous guitar solos either, but he ripped out some neil young-ish leads on gibson SG's.

i've listened to a few other Nels Cline recordings. one was an instrumental album he did with thurston moore. it was pretty much what you'd expect it to be: thurston doing mostly atonal wankery and nels doing tuneful wankery. and i think i heard a mike watt album with him on it......

anyway, he's got a myspace page with 4 songs up. i like his playing a lot too.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri May 12, 2006 10:59 pm

Nels was in Geraldine Fibbers, a cool alt-country band (whose singer, Carla B. in the last couple years impressively covered Willie Nelson's Red-Headed Stranger album), and he sounds great on Wilco's live CD.

Brian Brock · Post by **Brian Brock** » Sat May 13, 2006 12:34 pm

He also did a version of John Coltrane's Interstellar Space with Gregg Bendian on drums. Pretty wide interests there. Perhaps I'll have to check out this "Wilco" of which you speak - something to do with the Radio I presume?

b

honkyjonk · Post by **honkyjonk** » Sun May 14, 2006 9:22 pm

That red-headed stranger remake is insane. I prefer it to the original.
I mean, that's not even saying anything. I keep going back to it over and over. It's one of those repeatedly rewarding listenings, like YHF. Actually, I like it better than YHF. Oh gosh.

Anyway, his playing on that is about as tasty as any damn thing you'll hear from an electric guitar player these days, (or a lap/pedal steel player)

bannerj · Post by **bannerj** » Mon May 15, 2006 7:15 am

I think he is amazing too, but am a bit afraid of the direction of Wilco with him on board. I don't think it is just his problem though. I was originally encouraged at the beginning of the Ghost tour by an interview I read where he said that he wanted to let Jeff do all his own solos that were on the record. I saw them at the beginning of the tour in Ft. Worth and everything seemed well balanced. Nels was genius and Jeff was emotional and intense. Then I saw the later part of the tour in OKC and a few of the songs had morphed into these long almost jam sessions that seemed boring after a while. I just don't like jam rock.

ideaofnorth · Post by **ideaofnorth** » Mon May 15, 2006 9:10 am

I think Nels helps bring out the best in wilco. I saw that show in Portland, too. Amazing. The show in 2004 right after Ghost is born came out seemed a little edgier to me, though. I might have preferred it in some ways. This one they seemed very comfortable being showmen, working the crowd, etc.

I know there are people who prefer the Being There, more straightforward era, but I saw some footage from that recently and I think there's no comparison to what they're doing now. The old footage seemed almost quaint, in a way. They're covering so much interesting territory now, might be the best band in the country. Next to deerhoof.

Nels' website is also hilarious. amazingly casual attitude towards the gear, pedals, etc. Also the quote on the homepage from Lydia Lunch ? "The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"

bannerj · Post by **bannerj** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:07 am

ideaofnorth wrote:
I know there are people who prefer the Being There, more straightforward era,

No Depression magazine was launched on the heels of Uncle Tuepelo (tweedy and Jay Farrar). Wilco then became their poster band for the new alt country. AM and Being there were the bread and butter of that scene. Summerteeth began a departure, and YHF seemed like a betrayl to many. To each his own...I think YHF is one of the greatest albums ever. I love me some Jeff Tweedy, but I think Jay Bennet really got the shaft.

Cellotron · Post by **Cellotron** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:34 am

Nels is indeed a fantastic player. One favorite album of mine is his duet with Carla Bozulich (doing vocals/bass/prepared guitar) called "Scarnella." While some of the instrumental improvs on it can get a little self indulgent there are still some amazing songs that even with their stripped down arrangements are unbelievably powerful. Got to see them at Tonic here a bunch of years ago and they remarkably pulled it off live even though it was just the two of them (with Nels kicking the hell out of a bass drum while playing guitar for some of the tunes).

Cool stuff - I enjoyed some of his tales of sessions on that linked page so thanks for posting that.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Mon May 15, 2006 11:09 am

It's worth noting that Son Volt is back together, also. Or at least, Farrar is using the name again.

The new recording is, in my opinon, their best yet, and of course much closer to "alt-country" then Wilco ever was.

lukievan · Post by **lukievan** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:31 pm

i like the Nels Cline Trio album 'Ground', as well as
the album 'Destroy All Nels Cline'.
The first is avant-rock-jazz thrashery with beautiful,
impressionistic tunes to soften up the gristle.
The 'Destroy' album is all over the place - some really
wild experimental stuff, some gorgeous lyrical pieces and
some insane fusionoid riffery.
Pretty much all good, acording to me.

honkyjonk · Post by **honkyjonk** » Mon May 15, 2006 9:33 pm

You know what I'd like to see, is Jay Bennet playing some of the Steven stuff with the Flaming Lips, so Steven can play drums again.

Not saying make him a member of the band, it just be a cool little tour idea. I wonder what costume he would wear?

Brett Siler · Post by **Brett Siler** » Wed May 17, 2006 4:18 pm

I love Nels Clines guitar playing. I lean more to his more experimental work. I am not a fan of Wilco but I think it is cool to see that he is an extremly versitial guitar player.

The first record of his I heard was "Interstellar Space...." record and I was blown away. First he does a great job of intepretating the orginal album and secondly I have never heard someone play guitar like that before. He is truely a talented and unique musician.

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